Binding and Characterization of DNA Origami Nanostructures on Lipid Membranes

DNA origami is an extremely versatile nanoengineering tool with widespread applicability in various fields of research, including membrane physiology and biophysics. The possibility to easily modify DNA strands with lipophilic moieties enabled the recent development of a variety of membrane-active DNA origami devices. Biological membranes, as the core barriers of the cells, display vital structural and functional roles. Therefore, lipid bilayers are widely popular targets of DNA origami nanotechnology for synthetic biology and biomedical applications. In this chapter, we summarize the typical experimental methods used to investigate the interaction of DNA origami with synthetic membrane models. Herein, we present detailed protocols for the production of lipid model membranes and characterization of membrane-targeted DNA origami nanostructures using different microscopy approaches.